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Friday, June 6, 2014

Carlos and Franco, Hashish and Me.

One of the great advantages I have had in life is being in
places when extraordinary changes were taking place. Beirut in 1981; Turkey in
the late 1970’s during a coup, and then again in the early 1980’s when Democracy
was restored; are 2 places and times which come readily to mind as examples. But until
the news came over about Juan Carlos stepping down after almost 40 years as
head of his country, I had forgotten about one of my favorite events. And that
was in Spain the night that Juan Carlos decriminalized possession of hashish
and marijuana. I suppose a bit of history is in order here.

Spain’s 1936 alliance with Hitler and Germany; which
actually helped keep Spain neutral in the coming Second World War; set off the
Spanish Civil War, which many people point to as the first real battle of the
Second World War. It pitted Generalissimo Franco’s Nationalists (read as
Fascists) against an International Brigade of volunteers (read as Communists)
from countries as diverse as the Soviet Union and the United States. Ernest
Hemingway even went there; a visit which would give rise to his novel “For Whom
the Bell Tolls.” Franco won and became Spain’s dictator for the next 4 decades.
In the late 1970’s he relinquished his power to Juan Carlos, who became King.

The rule of Juan Carlos was filled with all the usual
troubles of running a kingdom; or any country for that matter. He had his own terrorists
to contend with way before we did. They were separatists from the North, and
were still active as recently as the Madrid train bombing early in this century.
Economically Spain has had its ups and downs; just like the rest of the world.
And now his son will be taking the helm of leadership in a mostly symbolic
position; much as the Queen rules England. All indications are that he will be
well received by about 70% of the population, and we wish him luck. End of
history.

And now, the night Juan Carlos decriminalized hashish. If
memory serves me correctly it was March 1st, 1984. I was in
Alicante, a port on the Cost de Sol to catch the USNS Sirius, a ship which had
been home to me several times in the past few years. This was a small port by
comparison to the ones we usually hit. I was also just fresh from stateside, having
landed in Madrid that morning direct from New Jersey by way of Baltimore. I had
just gotten my 3rd Mates License, but was shipping as an Able Bodied
Seaman instead of as Third Mate. There were no slots open at the time and my
money was running low.

There was something festive in the air, like the
sharpness you can almost feel before it snows. There were Federal troops,
complete in 3 cornered hats, at every intersection. The sight of automatic
weapons in the hands of someone with a 17th century headpiece was incongruous,
but the lethality of the modern weapons was not lost on me. So, I went to the
nearest bar to get the lowdown on what was happening.

Walking in I was surprised to see so many people openly
smoking hashish. Hashish was very common; after all there is only a 7 mile
strait between Spain and Morocco at Gibraltar. But it was always on the quiet
lest you be arrested. It was a bit unsettling to see everyone smoking with all
the troops just outside. I started asking questions in my broken Spanish; and
getting answers in broken English. So I was only getting small pieces of the
story at a time.

Turns out that this was the night when hashish became decriminalized
in Spain and I was lucky enough to be there. The troops were there for everyone’s
protection, and also as a warning not to let things get too out of hand. The
wine flowed, the hash burned and everyone had a great time. And that is what
came to mind when I saw that Juan Carlos was stepping down this week. Now here’s
the fun part. I am going to google this and see how accurate my memory is for
date and event. Be right back.

Well, I couldn't find what I was looking for; namely a date; but
here is the status of the law in Spain, where possession is a misdemeanor; sale
is illegal; but growing it is not. This is from Wikipedia;

“Selling cannabis is a criminal offence punishable by law
at any quantity. Buying anywhere, possession and consumption at a public place
constitutes a misdemeanor and is penalized with a fine and confiscation.
Growing the plant on private property for personal use, and consumption by
adults in a private space is legal.[121]”

Here is the link to the whole article, which lists all
the countries alphabetically;